1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to digital communications and content delivery systems. Specifically, the invention relates to providing enhanced digital services to a geographic region corresponding to an analog broadcast license.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital technology in general and digital communications in particular have ushered in an age of convergence wherein formerly separate media types often share common mechanisms for distribution and viewing. For example, digital-based cable systems within hotels, homes, and businesses offer a wide variety of entertainment selections such as movies, television programs, video games, music channels, and weather channels, in addition to other services such as internet access, telephone service, and the like. However, the cost of building the infrastructure for such systems remains a barrier to accessing many markets, particularly small and geographically dispersed markets such as small towns and farming communities.
In contrast to digital-based cable systems, existing non-cable broadcast systems are typically restricted to delivery of one media type or service. Examples of non-cable broadcast systems include AM radio, FM radio, VHF television programming, and UHF television programming. Each of the aforementioned radio and television programming systems are presently confined to broadcasting either radio or television signals, respectively.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical prior art broadcast system namely an analog-based content delivery system 100. The analog-based content delivery system 100 illustrates the advantages and disadvantages of currently available broadcast systems that operate within existing licensed spectrums. As depicted, the content delivery system 100 includes a large number of residences 110, a transmission facility 120, a transmission tower 130, and one or more broadcast antennas 140.
In certain broadcast systems, such as FM radio, VHF television, and UHF television systems, the residences 110 are spread across a geographic region such as a neighborhood, a metropolitan area, a valley, or the like that is within line of sight of the transmission tower 130. In other broadcast systems, such as AM radio systems, the residences 110 may be spread across an entire country or continent. The depicted broadcast infrastructure, in conjunction with a broadcast license (not shown,) enables a broadcaster to transmit content to the residences 110.
One advantage of analog-based content delivery systems 100 is low deployment cost. This low deployment cost is achieved in part by avoiding the expenditure of resources on a transmission line infrastructure between the transmission facility 120 and the residences 110. In addition, reception equipment for receiving analog content is inexpensive and widely available.
Another advantage of analog-based content delivery systems 100 is that these systems 100 already exist in many remote areas of the world. Content providers that utilize these systems 100 have penetrated many markets that are currently inaccessible to digital-based cable systems, digital subscriber line (DSL) systems, or the like.
Despite the aforementioned benefits, analog-based content delivery systems 100 do not offer the advantages of digital convergence. For example, lack of digital data compression results in poor bandwidth utilization for such systems. In addition, content is typically restricted to one media type such as television programming or radio programming. Furthermore, communications are unidirectional and non-interactive, and internet access or telephone service is not available with such systems.
In addition to the analog-based content delivery system 100 of FIG. 1, other communication technologies have problems that restrict digital convergence. For example, within the telephone industry, digital subscriber line (DSL) service provides consumers with fairly high communication bandwidth. However, due to the limitations of the internet and its ad hoc infrastructure, such service is typically ineffective in delivering high bandwidth content such as movies or television programs.
Accordingly, what is needed are cost-effective apparatus, methods, and systems that offer the advantages of digital convergence to a broader customer base and in a superior manner than currently available systems. Such systems would provide many of the advantages of digital-cable systems and DSL systems without the associated disadvantages that currently limit digital convergence.